Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Sir Arthur Desmond Cassidi, (26 January 1925 – 10 October 2019) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer who served as

Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command Naval Home Command administered training and garrison functions for the Royal Navy from 1969-2012. Its commander was Commander-in-Chief, Naval Home Command (CINCNAVHOME). History As the Royal Navy's size decreased during the Cold War, commands wer ...

from 1983 to 1984.

Naval career

Cassidi joined the

in 1938. Commissioned in 1943, he was promoted to

sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...

in February 1944. He served in and with the Iceland Patrols and Russian Convoys during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and also took part in the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

. Cassidi was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in February 1946, and to

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

in October 1953. He became

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

820 Naval Air Squadron 820 Naval Air Squadron is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier-based squadron flying the AgustaWestland Merlin HM2 in an Anti-Submarine role from RNAS Culdrose. The Squadron was formed at RNAS Gosport on 3 April 1933 with the transferral of the F ...

in 1954. Promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

on 31 December 1956, he became the commanding officer of in 1960. He went on to be Assistant Director of Naval Plans (Warfare) in the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

in 1964 and Commanding Officer of as well as Captain of the 2nd Frigate Squadron in 1967. In 1970 he returned to the Ministry of Defence as the Director of Naval Plans. Cassidi became Commanding Officer of in 1972 and Flag Officer, Carriers and Amphibious Ships in 1974.Debrett's People of Today 1994 He went on to be Director-General, Naval Manpower and Training in 1975 and

Flag Officer Naval Air Command N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

in 1978. He then became

Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel The Second Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (formerly Second Sea Lord) is deputy to the First Sea Lord and the second highest-ranking officer to currently serve in the Royal Navy and is responsible for personnel and naval shore establish ...

in 1979 and

in 1982. He retired in 1985.

Family and later life

In 1950 Cassidi married Sheelagh Marie Scott; they had one son and two daughters. Following the death of his first wife, he married Deborah Marion Pollock in 1982. Cassidi lived near

Langport Langport is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, west of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The parish, which covers only part of the town, has a population of 1,081. Langport is contiguous with Huish Episcopi, a separate ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. He died on 10 October 2019 at the age of 94.Cassidi
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References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cassidi, Desmond 1925 births 2019 deaths Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy officers of World War II